This is Bird Note.

We're hearing the calls of royal turns.

The birds we call turns look like sporty versions of gulls.

Like gulls, most turns are feathered gray and white, but turns are more streamlined

with slender pointed wings and spike-like bills.

The black turn carries this sleek look into elegance, cloaking its aerodynamic shape

in velvety black.

Black turns breed in summer on secluded freshwater wetlands across the northern states

and Canada.

Here, they show off another trait that sets them apart.

While most turns make a living by plunge-diving for fish, black turns also flutter like

swallows over the surface of ponds, snatching insects in midair.

Black turns migrate each spring and fall through the American heartland, traveling back and

forth to wintering grounds off the coast of Panama and northern South America.

But because of major losses of wetlands in their breeding range, especially in Canada's

prairie provinces, black turn numbers have dropped dramatically since the 1960s.

The future of this beautiful bird depends on protecting and restoring high-quality wetlands.

Recent research shows that artificial nest platforms can enhance the turns breeding success.

You can find more about this research on our website, birdnote.org.